Cars We Drive!

Thrift Vader · May 23, 2020

That's better.

You'd be surprised at the supercars in my area. farmers have bulk money. (They earned it)

I have seen dudes ripping on euro cars so hard. .
Last week had a Aventador rev limit past my garden.

Urban rich? M3

Farmer rich? whatevs.
with the roads to stretch legs on.

Texasmade · May 23, 2020

TheFoo said:
I think the very en vogue mantra amongst car enthusiasts that the “911 has become a GT car” is downright silly. Yes, the car—particularly in 992 form—has gotten larger and more comfortable. However, performance, precision, and dynamics have only been improved. And all sports cars have gotten larger and more comfortable over the years. The biggest problem with the 991 and 992-generation cars is not becoming less of a sports car but losing some of the tactility and fear-near-the-limit that characterized previous generation models. This underlies legitimate criticism and lament with respect to driving fun on the road, but does not diminish sportiness.

Put another way, if the 911 is not a sports car anymore, is any other contemporary car? McLarens have even comfier rides and arguably less soul/charm, but cannot boast any material connection to racing; they are not a meaningful presence in endurance racing and the F1 cars have little to no direct relationship with the road cars. With the exception of its singular mid-engine models, Ferraris are all grand tourers to a fault (big, heavy, front-engined, and luxuriously equipped). At least the 911 still races and wins—it is literally sporting.

It’s more accurate to say that all sports cars have become much, much better at playing the grand tourer role when called upon. They have also all become less tactile and fun at lower speeds. The 911 is certainly part of this trend. But then, since inception, the 911 has always been designed as a more usable, everyday sports car.

The real story is how few down-the-fairway grand tourers still exist. It’s been Aston Martin’s focus, but even they are shifting toward sportier, mid-engine cars (if they don’t go bankrupt and become a crossover/SUV specialist first). Two-door Bentleys? The front-engined Ferraris mentioned above? The next-gen Mercedes SL is going to be AMG-engineered and more of a sports car, in-line with its roots. BMW 8-series? The Lexus LC? They have such a hard time selling those two, they might as well not exist. Pickings are quite slim.

I chose the GT3 because—of all the 991 cars aside from the R—it maintains the most pure, tactile, and theatric driving experience. The RS version notches up capability, but at the expense of street-legal looseness and a manual transmission. Is the 991.2 GT3 “peak” 911? Arguably. The case has been made by many, not just me. Chris Harris and Jonny Lieberman come to mind. Lots of big, macro trends conspire to make this so.

Okay, now this is silly. What could be more of a ridiculous and useless sentiment than “it’s
all meant to be on that car.”

We have been talking about design. Design relates to function and purpose and identity. So, yes, it absolutely matters whether a car is more “race-oriented.” In such cases, one ought to make different aesthetic and design decisions than if specifying a luxury sedan or all-weather SUV.

Speaking of Mercedes SL, I’m surprised that Mercedes is even bothering with the SL still. If you want performance focused 2 seater convertible, you get the AMG GT roadster. If you want a luxury 2 seater convertible, you get the S coupe roadster. The SL has been lagging in sales ever since the AMG GT was released.

TheFoo · May 23, 2020

Texasmade said:
Speaking of Mercedes SL, I’m surprised that Mercedes is even bothering with the SL still. If you want performance focused 2 seater convertible, you get the AMG GT roadster. If you want a luxury 2 seater convertible, you get the S coupe roadster. The SL has been lagging in sales ever since the AMG GT was released.

Yes, exactly. Really, the AMG GT is what the SL should be, given its heritage. They should just rename the former. I think the whole “Mercedes-AMG” thing is a branding mistake and confusing.

They are going to try to make the SL more of a legitimate sports car, but I wonder how that will work versus the AMG GT.

By the way, nobody argues about whether the AMG GT is a “sports car.” It is not edgier than a 911 and just as comfortable and usable as a tourer. Also, the heavier weight and front-engine configuration are decidedly less sporty.

TheFoo · May 23, 2020

Very nice 355 interior. Matching leather throughout. I’ll forgive the black wheel.

patrick_b · May 23, 2020

TheFoo said:
Approaching 7,000 miles.

I’m not attempting to validate my decision. I am responding to questions and, yes, attempting to correct incorrect perceptions. Not just about Porsches, but literally every other ******* thing on this forum I’ve ever talked about.

It's not a debate if I'm right.
My opinion = facts.
How can you NOT understand my lengthy correction to your inaccuracies?
I'm often [always] misconstrued.

I'm just waiting for a "fake news" to pop up and realize that I've never seen Trump and @TheFoo at the same time... :-D

OtterMeanGreen · May 23, 2020

TheFoo said:
Very nice 355 interior. Matching leather throughout. I’ll forgive the black wheel.

View attachment 1393676

Funny all I’m focusing on is what kind of footwear does she have on. Always made me cringe seeing a woman in high heels stepping out of a Ferrari, because 9 out of 10 times there would be some hole by the pedals where the heel dug in, like an ass groove on a fine leather couch, it stuck out. Luckily for me I keep a pair of Piloti’s in my car, so I always have the right footwear for driving, especially a 3 pedal car. On the 328GTS I have to, my normal size 13 shoes don’t fit comfortably on the pedals, and you can forget about heel/toe. With the Piloti’s it’s like most things Italian; fits like a glove, but not much room to play with

Thrift Vader · May 23, 2020

Hideous.

Legs tho. . . . .. :fonz:

That dashboard looks straight out of the 70's. Corolla.

TheFoo · May 23, 2020

patrick_b said:
It's not a debate if I'm right.
My opinion = facts.
How can you NOT understand my lengthy correction to your inaccuracies?
I'm often [always] misconstrued.

I'm just waiting for a "fake news" to pop up and realize that I've never seen Trump and @TheFoo at the same time...

I can’t help it if you can’t distinguish facts from opinion, can’t muster basic levels of reading comprehension, can’t follow multi-step rationales, etc.

TheFoo · May 23, 2020

The steering wheel stripe and carbon fiber trim are stupid here, and the metallic trim (much of which is painted plastic) is a bit too much, but this is how Mercedes does a tan, full-leather interior at the high end. No ************* dash.

Replacing the carbon fiber with brown wood trim would be a gigantic improvement.

Friends don’t let friends get black and tan interiors.

TheFoo · May 23, 2020

This is also nicely done. No silly mistakes like the above, but the leather is not as rich looking. If you must have a darker dash with a beige or tan interior, the two-tone approach is the right way to go.

TheFoo · May 23, 2020

Then there is this 991.2 GT3. No alcantara to see here, folks.

******* horrible for a dozen reasons.

HRoi · May 23, 2020

TheFoo said:
View attachment 1393653

View attachment 1393654

Re-posting from a page ago to bring this back to a more interesting and constructive topic.

This is a CXX (off-menu) full leather interior from Porsche, in a new Speedster. The leather quality is still likely just so-so, but this is the way to do full leather. You don’t just do the seats and leave the default dash and wheel and other parts as they are to save money. You cover as much as possible. Also, no faux-tina. The leather is appropriately modern-looking for a modern (albeit heritage-inspired) car.

Note, it’s also appropriate for this sort of car—an open-top, purely road-focused sports car without any pretense toward a connection with racing. It is a lifestyle car, not an edgy homologation special.

I think it’s gorgeous.

That said, this kind of interior in a Porsche starts at $50K. I would not spend that kind of money myself, but this is exactly the right car to spend it on if one has the wherewithal.

This is...inspiring.

I wouldn’t spend $50k on interior options either, but i wonder if Porsche throws the CXX/PTS crowd a bone and starts offering full leather (including on LWB seat) option packages on the 992 GT3? They listen very well to their customers and they know there’s demand.

Poking around 992 configurator, it looks like you can get almost all those surfaces covered in leather by the “exclusiv manufaktur interior” + “extended exclusiv mfg interior” options available on the 992 Turbo S. Cost: $17k, which i could probably talk myself into. That “exclusiv” package also has some nice subtle quilting that they say was inspired by the 930.

TheFoo · May 23, 2020

HRoi said:
This is...inspiring.

I wouldn’t spend $50k on interior options either, but i wonder if Porsche throws the CXX/PTS crowd a bone and starts offering full leather (including on LWB seat) option packages on the 992 GT3? They listen very well to their customers and they know there’s demand.

Poking around 992 configurator, it looks like you can get almost all those surfaces covered in leather by the “exclusiv manufaktur interior” + “extended exclusiv mfg interior” options available on the 992 Turbo S. Cost: $17k, which i could probably talk myself into. That “exclusiv” package also has some nice subtle quilting that they say was inspired by the 930.

You could spec full-leather interiors off the regular options list for the 991 cars as well. Price was similar at ~$15-20k. That’s what my car has (well, with alcantara mixed in—but no difference in cost). However, there were bits and pieces you had to do with CXX if you wanted the most leather or alcantara coverage possible (the inner sills, fuse covers, vent surrounds or slats, steering wheel in different color or material, etc.). Then you can easily get near $30K. Trust me—painful. None of that is counting truly crazy stuff like the $15K CXX option for a quilted leather-lined frunk. Or the $9K CXX charge for off-menu seat options. I stupidly paid for that one since I desperately wanted the houndstooth inserts as a factory option.

However, if you wanted a custom leather or leather color throughout the interior, you had to pay for the $50K “custom interior” option. That may not even include some of the above. But when you consider the ~$10K price for LTS alone, I guess . . . it’s a bargain?

Doubt Porsche will make all this much more accessible or mainstream. Firstly, there’s too much profit in selling all these little options piecemeal. Second, I know from insiders that they simply don’t have the capacity to do more custom work. It’s not a matter of price. In fact, the silly prices on many of these off-menu options ($3K to change the color of the 12 o’clock steering wheel stripe, anyone?) is meant to be a deterrent.

By the way, have you inspected the 992 interior? It is markedly downmarket versus the standard 991 interior. Disappointing cost-cutting abound.

Thrift Vader · May 23, 2020

I am about to spend $780 on my 5yo son's backpack.

wtf.

TheFoo · May 23, 2020

Thrift Vader said:
I am about to spend $780 on my 5yo son's backpack.

wtf.

Now I feel a little better about the $3K I paid Porsche to turn my steering wheel stripe from red to yellow.

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